Starr Hill Brewery | Lemon-Lime King of Hop IPA

ABV: 7.5% | IBU: 50

Here in Virginia the trees are beginning to bloom, bright yellow daffodils line the sidewalks and roadways, and warmer temperatures have started luring us outside off of our blanket-covered, couch-sitting butts. Spring has finally sprung! In my house, springtime begins with an annual retirement of our porters and stouts, making way for the refreshing, citrusy beers that are perfect for porch drinking! To celebrate the beginning of spring, Starr Hill Brewery out of Crozet, Virginia is releasing one of the best IPA packs I’ve seen in quite some time — the Four Kings IPA Pack. In this twelve-pack sampler you’ll find different variants of their King of Hop Imperial IPA  which include a grapefruit, habanero, and lemon-lime version alongside the original. With Citra hops providing a strong citrus characteristic to the base of the IPA, the fruit and spicy variants bring a new level of complexity to the beer. Read More

West Seattle Brewing Co. | IPA

6.8% ABV | 67 IBU

West Seattle Brewing Company is one of the quieter breweries in the Seattle area, but that doesn’t make it any less quintessentially Seattle. The brewery, which reopened after renovations last summer, offers a coffee bar for early morning commuters, 18 taps, and a kid/dog-friendly space that has been called “West Seattle’s living room.” To top it all off, the Seattle Sounders 2016 schedule has a permanent location at the entrance of the bar. West Seattle Brewing truly offers the unassuming, laid back experience that Seattle breweries are known for, complete with plentiful options, friendly staff, and – most importantly –  delicious beer. Read More

Pizza Port Brewing | The Kook DIPA

ABV: 8.5%

Many craft-beer fans know Port Brewing and Lost Abbey Brewing, thanks to their great reputations and relatively wide distributions. A bit less well-known, however, is Pizza Port Brewing Company, … Read More

Cellarmaker Brewing | Tremont IPA

ABV: 5.8%, | IBU: 29

Cellarmaker Brewing’s co-founder, Tim Sciascia, previously worked for Boston Beer Company, where he was told he would never be allowed in the brewhouse without a … Read More

Ultimate 6er | Colorado Ski Mountain and Beer Pairing

Winter in Colorado means trips up I-70 to your favorite ski mountain. After a long day on the mountain, nothing helps you relax and unwind more than a cold beverage, preferably a crisp and refreshing brewski (see what I did there?). This Ultimate 6er pairs six Colorado ski destinations with six delicious beers. Now, I could have taken the easy route by pairing mountains with their (awesome) local breweries. However, I wanted to get a little more creative instead, so I looked into certain resorts’ nicknames, runs, and mountains to really give PorchDrinkers six special pairings. Read More

Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Racer 5

ABV 7.5%  | IBU 75

I moved to the Bay Area in the fall of 2011 and I soon discovered my love of good, local, craft beer. Most bars in the Bay Area offer Northern California staples even if their beer selection is not very diverse or “crafty.” The drafts typically include an IPA from at least one of the following: Anchor, Bear Republic, Drakes, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada or Speak Easy. My interest and intrigue with the hop flavor and IPAs was piqued as I experienced more and more of these local favorites. Through my trials and tribulations, a clear favorite emerged. The Racer 5 IPA from Bear Republic Brewing Company quickly became my go-to beer.

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Cigar City Brewing | White Oak Jai Alai

ABV: 7.5% IBU: 70

Most in the craft beer world are familiar with Cigar City Brewing’s Jai Alai IPA. However, there is a White Oak-Aged version that might not be as well known. Unlike Jai Alai that is available year-round, White Oak Jai Alai periodically comes out throughout during the year.

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Ultimate 6er | Virginia Brew Adventure

Among the pile of New Year’s resolutions from PorchDrinkers, I’m adding one of mine: Explore more Virginia beer. The state is chockablock with amazing, well-known breweries and new ones are expanding, popping up each month.

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New Belgium Brewing | Citradelic Tangerine IPA

Photo by: Will Dozier

ABV: 6.0% | IBU: 50

New Belgium Brewing Citradelic Tangerine IPA, which officially hit stores yesterday, kicks off what I expect to be one of the bigger trends for the new year. Mark it down, coming in 2016… to a snifter glass not so very far away. Craft Beer: The Fruit Awakens. Read More

Scuttlebutt Brewing Company | KEXP Transistor IPA

ABV: 5.6% | IBU: 68

If you don’t live in Seattle, the letters KEXP might not mean much to you. If you do live in Seattle, you know that these are not just four, jumbled letters. KEXP is 90.3 FM – the radio station bringing the Emerald City innovative and experimental culture, groundbreaking music and now, great… beer? Read More

Schlafly Beer | Tasmanian IPA

ABV: 7.2% | IBU: 65

Schlafly Bottleworks’ Tasmanian IPA (TIPA) is part of the brewery’s Special Release series, and is  available only from October to February. Per the Schlafly website “Our Special Release Series represents a seasonal lineup showcasing bigger beers… with a focus on unique process and huge flavor …” TIPA certainly fits that bill.

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Literary Beer Collection | Halloween Edition

I am excited to bring you a second edition of the Literary Beers series. Can we call it a series now that there is more than one? Meh, who is counting… I lost count long ago.

This edition of Literary Beers will focus on stories/brews that are centered around Halloween.  I have scoured retail shelves and library catalogs to find you the most intriguing and haunting of literary brewing collaborations. So, light a candle and grab a pumpkin ale because this is about to get real!

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The Ultimate 6er | Trick R Treat!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Something about the crisp fall air and the leaves changing colors has always pulled at my heart strings. Growing up in Colorado, we would always wait for the 31st of October and crossing our fingers that it wouldn’t snow so you didn’t have to wear a coat under your costume. Fast-forward a bunch of years and the holiday still has me twisted. I look forward to picking out my costume, planning on which parties I can attend and planning my must-try beers to go along with my favorite Halloween movies. My favorite Halloween movie is without a doubt, Trick R Treat. The one from 2007 and not the 80’s one. Sure, the 80’s film is great for all of its metal mischief but it can’t hold a candle-in-a-jack-o-lantern to the Samhain anthology of stories that intertwine and enthrall you into following all of the Halloween rules!

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Schooner EXACT Brewing Co. | 3-Grid IPA

ABV 6.7% | IBU 62

One of the great things about living in a beer-forward city like Seattle is the beer fluency of the entire city. Virtually every person in the area can carry on a conversation about beer styles and the relative virtues of one brewery over another without prompting, guaranteeing that a diverse set of opinions is just a conversation away. It’s in this way that I discovered the Schooner EXACT 3-Grid IPA.

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Roaring Fork Beer Company | Hoppa Road Imperial IPA

Style: IPA – Imperial/Double | ABV: 8.5% | IBUs: N/A

An 8% hop bomb; Hoppa Road is brewed with over two and a half pounds of Citra Hops per barrel. This makes for a big juicy, lupulicious brew.

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Guinness | Nitro IPA

ABV: 5.8% | IBU: 44

No, it’s not your GABF hangover playing tricks on your eyes, you read the title of this article correctly: Guinness is releasing an IPA. A Nitro IPA to be exact. PorchDrinking was invited to a pre-release tasting on the Nitro IPA’s three-week tour around the U.S. to sample the beer and get a little history lesson on the origins of the Guinness widget, the brewery, and the IPA style of beer itself.

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Bell’s Brewery | The Oracle DIPA

ABV: 10% | IBU: 90

Bell’s The Oracle DIPA is a west coast-style IPA brewed in Kalamazoo, MI. This hoptastic brew challenges the likes of Stone Brewing and Lagunitas Brewing with its hop forward dry bitter sensation that overwhelms taste buds with exuberant bliss. I would venture to say that Bell’s has succeeded in their attempt at the style and may have done better than a few indigenous brands.  Read More

Stone Brewing Co. | 19th Anniversary Thunderstruck IPA

ABV: 8.70% | IBUs: 95

I thought to myself “the only way to drink this beer, is blasting AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’  while drinking from a glass with the god … Read More

2 Row Brewing | Random IPA

Average 2 minute reading time

8.5% ABV

New beer. Two words ranked amongst favorites: Barrel-aged, happy hour, beer festival, free beer! It’s fun walking into your local bottle shop to scour the shelves for that new label, but what’s better – is visiting a brand new location where the entire selection is new! Read More

Event Preview | Hopped Up Hilarity

The DC Improv Comedy Club decided it would bring DC Brau into its bar taps to happily fuel the crews and attendees of its late-night shows and support the local brew. Being creative souls, The DC Improv team wanted to have some fun with this effort.

Photo courtesy of The DC Improv.

The Hopped Up Hilarity event on Sept. 16 will not only debut pints of DC Brau (starting with The Corruption, an IPA with a 6.5% ABV), but will also feature drinking stories. Funny drinking stories. From amateurs. Read More